CULTURE AND WOMEN'S CLUBS 



Two thoughts occur to me as I appear before this dis- 

 tinguished company this afternoon. The one, of course, 

 is that this is Lincoln's birthday. All famous things 

 start to memory at the mention of his name, while we 

 compare and contrast the seeming good fortune of this 

 present hour, in appearance, at least, so prosperous, so 

 beautiful, so free from conflict and from care, so dif- 

 ferent from all that Lincoln knew. The second turns 

 on the fact that this is an organized congress of women, 

 and we cannot but recall the social and political progress 

 of women since the days of sixty-four and five. 



To develop such thoughts as these might well be all- 

 sufficient for a Lincoln's birthday speech, and in fact 

 such is the plan in what I shall go on to say. And yet, 

 Lincoln's story has been often told; I must vary its set- 

 ting if my hearers heed at all ; and as for present pros- 

 perity, well, even this, as will, I hope, appear, may 

 hide problems pressing, dangerous even as those the 

 great President toiled to solve. I shall talk of Lincoln 

 and his time, not to repeat an oft-told story, but simply 

 to find a background on which mayhap the meaning of 

 present years and deeds may take more vivid color. 



The really vital interest that everywhere attaches to 

 the name and fame of Abraham Lincoln is surely 

 marvelous. To the vast majority of those who this day 

 name him, the great President, of course, is but a char- 



